ALDOT director says economic development put some counties at top of ATRIP funds list

Gov. Robert Bentley signs the Rural Assistance Match Program (RAMP) bill at the State Capitol in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday, April 10, 2013. With Gov. Bentley, from left to right, are: Rep. Mac McCutcheon, Alabama Department of Transportation Director John Cooper, Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey, Henry County Probate Judge David Money, Winston County Commission Chairman Roger Hayes and Sen. Paul Bussman. (Photo from Gov. Bentley's website)

MONTGOMERY, Alabama --- Economic
development projects put three counties on top in the state's
$1 billion road and bridge program, the director of the Alabama Department of
Transportation said Tuesday.

The two legislators on the ATRIP
committee are from Cullman and Madison counties, and Gov. Robert Bentley is
from Tuscaloosa County. But officials said favoritism was not a factor.

ALDOT Director John Cooper said the
plan was to spread the money according to population in the larger counties
and as equally as possible among the others. But that varied because some counties requested fewer projects because they lacked matching money or for other reasons.

"There is some variation to it,"
said Cooper, who was appointed by Bentley. "But there was a formula to it and
there was a rationale to it, and that rationale was not broken for anybody."

Sen. Paul Bussman, R-Cullman and
Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Capshaw, were the legislators on the seven-member
committee that reviewed applications. They said they didn't favor their counties. Bentley spokesman Jeremy King said the governor, who had the final
say on ATRIP decisions, did not favor his home county.

Statewide, ATRIP will pay for about $1
billion in road and bridge improvements.

Cities and counties applied for their projects. ALDOT screened the applications, and those
eligible for federal funding went to the ATRIP committee,
which made recommendations to the governor.

Eighty percent of ATRIP project costs
will be covered by bonds to be paid off by the state's future federal highway
money. Cities and counties pay a 20 percent match.

During the first two rounds, the
governor's office announced projects that were approved. During the final
round, with more requests than money to go around, counties were told how much money
they will receive.

Seventeen counties will receive enough
to pay for all their projects. In 28 counties, ATRIP funding won't cover all eligible
projects. Those counties have until Aug. 23 to submit a priority list to ALDOT.

The other 22 counties were not part
of the third round because they participated in the Rural Assistance
Match Program, which limited how much they could receive. RAMP counties could
receive up to $5 million with the state paying the 20 percent match. They could
get another $2 million if they paid the match.

As for ATRIP funding overall, Cullman
County topped the per capita list. It will receive $23.7 million, or $295 per
person.

Cullman County was one of five
counties with a population of about 80,000, and all were to receive about $14.5
million.

But Cullman County got an additional
$9.2 million for an Interstate 65 interchange that will serve some automotive suppliers.
The county is paying a $1.3 million match.

Cooper said the interchange had been
promised to the suppliers during Gov. Bob Riley's administration.

"Cullman's total is bigger for
sponsoring the interchange," Cooper said. "They really stepped up and they put
up money to sponsor a big project for economic development."

Part of the plan to divide the ATRIP
money was to give the 10 largest counties an amount based on population -- $10
million for each percentage point share of the state's population.

Three of the four largest counties,
Jefferson, Mobile and Montgomery, requested far less than their proportion in
population. That left more money for other counties.

Based on population, Madison County
was in line for $70 million.

Madison County had received $32
million during the first two rounds of ATRIP and so was in line for $38
million in the third round.

But Cooper said Madison County's
share was increased to $50 million for the third round because of
the strong mix of economic development projects on the county's list. That gave Madison County a total of $82.7 million and a per capita
amount of $241, second behind Cullman County.

Cooper said as part of that
agreement to increase Madison County's share, the state will have more say in
choosing which projects will be funded from the county's third-round allotment.

"All the other counties are making
their own decision as to how to allocate," Cooper said. "Madison is doing it in
conjunction with ALDOT because we want to make sure that the economic
development projects are pursued."

Madison County requested 21 projects
for a total of $173.5 million, so many won't be funded by ATRIP.

Tuscaloosa County was to receive $40
million based on its population. But the county received another $6.8 million for
M-Class Boulevard in conjunction with an expansion at the Mercedes-Benz plant, Cooper said. That increased Tuscaloosa County's share to $46.8 million,
$236 per capita, third on the list.

Sonny Brasfield, executive director
of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, said he had not talked to
any county officials about the per capita distribution of the money.

"I don't think you could do anything
this big without somebody second-guessing you over something," Brasfield said.

Overall, he said ATRIP will be a
huge benefit for counties. He said RAMP is "the best road and bridge initiative
in rural Alabama in anybody's lifetime."

"All in all, I think it's a home run
for the county governments and I think it's a home run for the state in
general," Brasfield said.

Bentley initiated ATRIP last year.
Officials say low interest rates mean that the cost of paying off the bonds is
less than the increase in costs that would be caused by inflation if the
projects were built later.

Bussman said it would have taken about $250 million more to
pay for all the eligible projects requested.

"But we just felt like we had
stretched federal dollars as far as we could stretch them and not put ALDOT
in a position where they couldn't do any construction or any maintenance down
the road."